Hillman Avenger

Lore & Background

The Avenger project was conceived in 1963; Design Director Roy Axe received his styling brief in 1965; and engineering began in 1966. It became one of the first automobiles to use computer-aided design (CAD) in the engineering of its unibody, and it was one of the first cars to address growing safety requirements, featuring a rigid passenger compartment with a front crumple zone, strengthened windscreen glass, and heavily padded instrument panel. After its press introduction in Malta in early 1970, manufacturing took place at the Rootes plant in Ryton-on-Dunsmore, England, near Coventry which had been renovated at a cost of £8M (£154M 2025) — with bodies and body panels shipped by train from Linwood, Scotland, and powertrains shipped from Stoke. Manufacturing moved completely to Linwood in 1976. Rootes marketed the Avenger from 1970 to 1975 solely under its Hillman brand, as the Hillman Avenger. After Rootes became a division of Chrysler Europe, the car was marketed from 1976 to 1978 as the Chrysler Avenger. After the sale of Chrysler Europe to PSA Peugeot Citroën it was marketed from 1979 to 1981 as the Talbot Avenger. The Avenger would ultimately spawn a host of global badge engineered variants, including prominently a North American variant marketed from 1971 to 1973, the Plymouth Cricket; by Chrysler Brazil for 1971–1980 as the Dodge 1800 (notably in a two-door body style) and later as the Dodge Polara — by Volkswagen Argentina as the VW 1800. Despite its conventional underpinnings, the Avenger was successful in motorsport, winning the 1971 Press-on-Regardless Rally (in Plymouth Cricket badging); winning the British Group 1 Rally Championship in 1975 and 1976 in Northern Ireland, winning the British Saloon Car Championship numerous times, and winning the 1976 Heatway Rally of New Zealand. At its introduction, the Avenger's success was considered crucial to Rootes, and by the time UK production finished in 1981, some 790,000 examples had rolled off the Ryton and Linwood production lines. While the Avenger was one of the most popular British cars of the 1970s, by 2016, reportedly fewer than 260 remained in use in Britain.

Reader's Guide

The Hillman Avenger was significant as the first and last car developed by Rootes after the Chrysler takeover in 1967. Its styling used conventional three-box and two-box styling featuring an American-influenced 'Coke Bottle' waistline and semi-fastback rear-end, later spawning a station wagon variant. The Avenger used conventional unibody construction and a 4-cylinder all-iron overhead valve engine in 1250 or 1500 capacities driving a coil spring suspended live axle at the rear wheels. The Avenger was praised by the press for its handling characteristics and overall road competence. Its plastic front grille, a first in Britain and at 4 ft wide was claimed as the largest mass-produced plastic component used at the time by a European car. The Avenger was a steady seller in the 1970s, in competition with the Ford Escort and Vauxhall Viva. Chrysler marketed the Avenger globally, prominently but unsuccessfully as the Plymouth Cricket in the U.S. The Avenger Tiger, named to evoke memories of the Sunbeam Tiger, began as a publicity exercise with modified 1500 GT engines and distinctive yellow colour scheme. Production figures for the Tiger are vague but around 200 of the initial Mark 1 seems likely, with around 400 Mark 2 cars produced. In September 1976, the Avenger was rebadged as a Chrysler and gained a comprehensive facelift including a new frontal treatment and new dashboard, while the distinctive 'hockey-stick' rear lamp clusters were dropped in favour of a straight 'light-bar' arrangement.

Did You Know?

• The Avenger Tiger was named to evoke memories of the Sunbeam Tiger and began as a publicity exercise.
• By 2016, reportedly fewer than 260 Avengers remained in use in Britain.